Paris revolts against Duke of Westminster

François Bachelier at an antiques stall in the Paul-Bert ‘puce’. He said that traders were outraged at the Duke of Westminster

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Duke of Westminster: balance

By Henry Samuel in Paris

12:01AM BST 06 Oct 2007

Parisians have revolted against the Duke of Westminster after he raised rents to levels that they claimed would destroy one of the city's most celebrated attractions.

Antiques dealers at the Saint-Ouen flea market, which attracts millions of visitors every year, launched an Asterix-style protest at the duke's attempt's to impose "exorbitant" rent rises.

To mark the start of a World Antiques Fair – held once every two years — up to 400 stall-holders wore black T-shirts bearing the slogan "Your flea-market is in danger".

They predicted the duke – Britain's third richest man – would meet his Waterloo if he tried to "speculate" with their livelihood.

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In a flyer handed out to customers, he was invited to "return to Perfidious Albion".

"Antiques dealer sell, work, love what we do," it said.

The duke, Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, bought the up-market Serpette and Paul-Bert sections of the 120-year-old Saint-Ouen market, just north of the 18th arrondissement, in 2005.

The combined rental value of the 420 pitches there amounts to almost €4 million.

Traders initially welcomed the British aristocrat, who owns much of Mayfair and Belgravia in London.

But François Bachelier, the vice-president of the Paul-Bert section, said traders were outraged at his "desire to impose exorbitant rents" at a time when the antiques market was already suffering due to the strength of the euro against the dollar. Eric Hauterive, a lawyer acting for the traders, said rents had gone up between 35 and 70 per cent.

Under French law, owners can only increase rent within a strict government-set index during the nine years of a commercial lease. But traders say the duke's company, Grosvenor Continental Europe, is threatening not to renew leases unless traders accept major rent rises.

They refuse to leave or pay the higher rates.

They also oppose the Duke's offer of golden handshakes for traders who want to leave, in order to bring in new ones with higher rates. "Some people have been here for two generations. They don't want to move. Money isn't everything," said Mr Bachelier.

It is almost impossible to evict a commercial leaseholder except for wrongdoing.

Traders accuse the duke of wanting to transform the traditional flea-market into a luxury market like the Louvre des Antiquaires, an expensive antiques arcade in central Paris. In a statement, Grosvenor Continental Europe said that "only a few tenants who failed to respect their contractual obligations have received letters of non-renewal".

However the company's director in charge of the two markets, Jacques Fay, said: "There is a great disparity of rental rates between traders. We don't think this is fair and are trying to balance them out, if necessary by threatening not to renew leases."

But the dealers are confident of victory.

"The All Blacks will lose on Saturday," predicted Mr Bachelier, referring to France's rugby world cup quarter final against New Zealand. "But we will prevail."